True Colours Review

06/02/14

Probably a little late to the show but better late than never! Once again our panel comprises Dave H, Callum and myself. So prepare to be dazzled and amazed by our latest, ever increasingly verbose, set review; True Colours (yeah, there's supposed to be a 'u' in it you uncivilised yanks!)!

Scoring Key

1 = Virtually unplayable, usually better cards that do the same thing

2 = Niche, may have a home in certain deck, but usually as part of a larger combo

3 = Bread and Butter, an average card

4 = Strong card, almost always played in faction

5 = Meta defining card, played often out of faction, almost an auto include

Keyhole

Dave H - 4

This is a good card and I am glad to see it in Anarch who need some love (Though probably not programs as much). I like that it follows the trashing theme but not that it makes Jackson Howard even more amazing. For me the key part of this card is that it allows you to score an agenda or trash part of a combo, and do all of this safely. I think this is really strong against Weyland, trashing Scorched Earth or SEA Source and being able to ignore Snares. However the bit I don’t like is that it shuffles the deck afterwards, while this allows for multiple accesses to be deadly in a way that R&DI isn’t, it doesn’t lock R&D. Often the corp can fast advance or has a secure remote meaning that if they get an agenda they can win, and it is in this situation that Keyhole is weaker than R&DI.

Callum - 4

A very powerful card for efficient or cautious runs, being able to pick a single card for later theft (providing there is no Jackson Howard lurking in a server) is a very powerful ability, especially with the increasing amount of R&D ambushes in the game. Against an undefended R&D you can hunt through nine different cards and then hit archives a turn (Or six if it’s turn one) which is a hugely powerful opening play if it gets you those agendas and at worst you mill cards you don’t want to see the Corp playing. The 2MU cost is what keeps this card in check and balanced.

Dave P - 4

Great to see a good program for Anarch above 2 influence and make no mistake, this is a great program. Effectively this combines Makers Eye with Imp for a brutal, and repeatable, assault on R&D that can either score agendas out of archives or break any corp combo. In many respects, this is as strong a defensive card as Plascrete is, the only problem being its 2 MU cost. Still, this loves to sit on Djinn, potentially along with a Medium for a vicious double whammy at the appropriate moment in the game. I'm fascinated to see how the meta changes because of this card.

Activist Support

Dave H - 1.5

Against some factions such as Weyland and NBN voluntarily getting a tag is pretty bad, against others it isn’t that much of an issue. However is it really that amazing to give the corp one Bad Publicity? I don’t think so, but maybe once more cards such as Blackmail come out it will be more viable as a strategy. What makes me think that this is unlikely is that Anarch’s of all the factions rely on Resource based economy the most, and therefore cards such as this that give them tags seem like they are always going to give them problems without use of influence in this area. Considering tutoring is another issue I just don’t see this as viable right now. I like the flavour, but not the application even when considering spoiled cards.

Callum - 1.5

This isn’t a dead card as many think, but it’s a difficult card to work. This could potentially see play in a tag-me deck that attempts to bury the Corp in Joshua Bs and Data Leak Reversals, but Anarchs also cannot afford that type of cash deprival without resources. At best it’s a fairly straight forward way to stick BP onto the Corporation is that is what you need.

Dave P - 1

Just don't get it. This isn't a reliable way to put BP on a corp because any corp player afraid of the potential Blackmail run (coming to a server near you soon) will just trash the thing before their turn ends. The runner then has to go tag me or pay 2c and a click (so the same as the corp) to clear the tag next turn. So that's 1c and a click wasted then in almost every instance (against any player who knows what they're doing anyway). If these two things happened simultaneously, it would be a whole different story and a nice risk/reward mechanic that does give huge strength to cards like Blackmail. But it doesn't, so it's bloody awful.

Lawyer Up

Dave H - 3

I like this card, because it encourages Criminal to remove tags, and therefore play resources. This means that the threat of tags can slow Criminals down, I think it could change the meta a little. That or people will ignore it and continue to play Tag-me. This card isn’t a draw engine like Diesel, it is only efficient if you are removing tags, and because of this it is quite a specific use. I’m not sure that it will make it into my Criminal deck because of space and this specific use.

Callum - 3.5

This card gets its rating purely off a combo with another powerful card that we all know and love. First click Account Siphon, second & third click Lawyer Up. You’ve stolen a potential 10c, spent 2c (Plus whatever the run cost) to ditch 4c worth of tags and drawn three cards (equiv; 3 clicks/3c worth of actions/a Diesel), which is a huge net bonus.

Dave P - 2.5

2 credits and 2 clicks isn't cheap. You need to clear 2 tags for this to be worthwhile otherwise you're just better off drawing up or using something like Mr Li. The only time this pays off is after an Account Siphon as Callum outlines. The problem with that is you are then left with a card that requires a successful Account Siphon before it is of any use at all. I've tried running this a few times in the past couple of weeks and I've yet to use it (2x in my Andy deck). It's just too situational, even in a monster Andy hand because the Account Siphon has to not only be played, but also hit (ie hope that the corp doesn't rez assets or trace ICE) AND you have to have the Lawyer Up in hand for the followup. I imagine that others are having a lot more joy than I am with it, but I've now taken it out of my Criminal decks and I'm not sure if it will be coming back in...

Leverage

Dave H - 1.5

The main flatline deck out right now is Weyland and they won’t care about bad publicity if they can kill the runner next turn, therefore, in the current meta this isn’t a great card. It is more likely to be useful against Jinteki damage decks in the future, playing it before you make stupid runs. However there are already better damage prevention tools out there which aren’t events and therefore subject to being trashed. Best against the amazing brain damage deck that doesn’t exist yet?

Callum - 2.5

This card annoys Jinteki to no end, but that is hardly a needed effect in the game right now. This card does not, and will not stop a flat-line if the Corp is able to pull it off. There are better damage prevention and mitigation cards out there if you’re looking for them. Its best play is to play first action against Jinteki and force them to take the bad pub if they want to attempt to damage you for running their servers.

Dave P - 2.5

Obviously doesn't stop a flatline but it does allow the runner to blow through a Janus or Neural Katana unscathed. It also negates any trap for that turn too, assuming they didn't take the bad pub of course. If they do though, 1c for 2 bad pub is a blumming good trade, just make sure you spend your next clicks drawing up or playing a Plascrete!

Garrote

Dave H - 3

This is an interesting one, it is a Corroder style Sentry breaker, which we have yet to see so far, therefore, it is efficient as hell. The downside is that it costs 7 to install and takes up 2MU. I think that Criminal are rich enough to be able to afford it, but not without a tempo hit, I also think that this isn’t right for most of the decks that are currently around. I think it sits better in an Andy big rig deck similar to the ones at Worlds rocking Magnum Opus (Though obviously MU becomes an issue). It has potential as a late game breaker while using other things such as Faerie and Sharpshooter in the early game, it’s definitely not a breaker for every deck.

Callum - 3.5

I like Garrote, it’s a very powerful and efficient sentry breaker; providing you can cheat it into play. This most likely will not be played in Criminals but as a one off splash into Shaper. Shaper have the tools to host its 2MU cost, the cards to circumvent its 7c cost and the cards to fetch it back if your single copy gets destroyed by the Corp.

Dave P - 3

I want to like this card more than I probably do. My problem is finding a suitable point in a game to take a 7c, 2MU hit to install this and still having the cash to blow through that server I need to get into. Wants to belong in a deck without Datasuckers as MU would become far too tight with them. This obviously frees up a great deal of influence in that deck (as I don't think I'd run Mimic either) but the economy of Datasucker is hard to argue against still, even post Power Shutdown. Good in Shaper, but as good as Femme... not too sure on that one.

LLDS Processor

Dave H - 2

I have a small amount of faith in this card being better in the future. Right now it just will not make the deck cut, however we are seeing more and more disposable programs coming out, Faerie, Deus X and Sharpshooter being good examples. Therefore if we see more recursion based decks it is likely that this will actually be more worthwhile. So this mark is based on what I think it will be worth in the future.

Callum - 1.5

This card is pretty interesting and is definitely the sort of card that someone will build a deck around. If your deck is the type of one that repeatedly regurgitates self-trash ICE breakers, then this is the card for you. Most decks though won’t do that, so this card won’t see much play outside of those archetypes. Space is a premium in most decks and I don’t think LLDS will make the cut.

Dave - 2

Nice idea in an Exile deck that's regurgitating breakers like a hungry cow. Beyond that, it's a too niche to find itself into 90% of shaper decks and the 10% that remain probably aren't too competitive.

Sharpshooter

Dave H - 4

I really like this card, it allows Shaper early game aggression and I think this is a great thing. I think this card does interesting things for the meta, Archer took a big hit with Faerie and this further threatens it. Is it the end of sentry ICE (Rise of the code gates?)? Either way, with all of the mid run tutoring Shaper has, this provides Shaper (and everyone else at 1 influence) with some great protection against destroyers, I like it a lot.

Callum - 3.5

Another safety running card as a ghetto-Faerie but it solely breaks the program trashing cards. A great early play if you’re looking to run with half a rig and don’t have your sentry breaker handy yet, which is pretty aggravating to the Corp looking for an early Ichi or Archer play. The low install cost and low influence are icing on the cake.

Dave P - 4

Probably an auto include for most Shaper decks I would suggest. I've been running 3x Faerie in my Criminal decks and haven't looked back, while this isn't as good as Faerie, it will do great work and allow real early game aggression from Shaper. Only took 4 packs for Shaper to get a card worth playing(!)

Capstone

Dave H - 1

This sounds okay, until you realise that it is only efficient if you have more than one duplicate otherwise you may as well just draw a card normally and discard. It is most effective when your deck runs 3 of a card and multiples are useless. However this is the faction with the most tutoring and therefore the faction with the least need to run 3 of cards. I am sure some Replicator fans will be very happy to see this card, but I am not...

Callum - 1.5

This card I’m not sold on, it’s a way to get some use out of the dead cards in your deck (the types that run 3x of things to guarantee them early) but the effect from Capstone is pretty weak in its own right. I can’t see this card being played currently.

Dave P - 1

Way too situational to ever be consistently useful. More importantly it takes a good long while for it to become cost effective too (when you really need to discard 2-3 at once for this to be 'good'). Shoebox of Shame for you!

Starlight Crusade Funding

Dave H - 1.5

I don’t think that this card will ever be a top card, but in the future when there are more double events out I think this card will see some play. It could be interesting but I’m not convinced it will ever be great as the double events would all need to stack in line with the deck strategy and they are all quite varied/specific so far.

Callum - 1

This card is pretty bad. The effect isn’t optional in anyway, so you need to be playing those Double cards like it is going out of style. It may become just “bad” if we get some Double events that are incredibly powerful but with inordinately high costs.

Dave P - 1

Ugggh. The gulf between card usefulness in this pack is huge. A good double event needs to be good enough to stand alone as 2 clicks is nothing to be sneezed at. As it stands, the only good runner double is Hostage (wildly aggressive opinion ahoy!). That, may of course change but I'm still banking on the fact that this will remain a 1. Who is seriously going to be able to find room to play 2 of these and use the 2-3 double events in one turn to make this worthwhile? Join Capstone in the Shoebox of Shame!

Rex Campaign

Dave H - 1

Seriously, what the hell? What is with all of the rubbish HB cards at the moment? This card isn’t as good as Adonis Campaign, or Eve Campaign, and there are definitely better ways of getting rid of bad publicity, with more cards coming out. I don’t see what this card does that is not already done better by other cards, therefore what is the point?

Callum - 1.5

This card gets a 1.5 purely because it’s flexible if you need the bad pub removal or a slow cash injection. As an econ card there are better options (Especially in HB) and as a bad pub removal card its slow and there are better options otherwise if you’re the type to rack up that BP. Elizabeth Mills or Vets Program are better if you want to remove BP, and Adonis/Eve/Melange are better if you need the credits.

Dave P - 1

So many better alternatives as Dave states and so hugely situational. If you're that afraid of BP, don't play cards that give it too you. Seems the easy solution! 5c is good (so Hedge Fund value territory) but 3 turns is an age; this card needs protection. Protection = time and time = money. The value of this card is just rubbish when you break it down. 3rd visitor in a row to the Shoebox of Shame, oh the indignity!

Fenris

Dave H - 2.5

There are things I like about this card and things that I don’t. Firstly, I like the art, and the fact that it is good (but not great) for damage decks. Secondly, I like that it is strength 2, this means that it isn’t instantly killed by Parasite without support and it more costly for Ninja to break. I don’t like that it is Mimic-able for very cheap, and I think that in combination with other sentry breakers Mimic continues to shine with these sort of ice. I also don’t think it is as good as Roto in most decks because trashing a program is almost always more useful than one brain damage. It is a nice alternative choice in the right deck but useful as often as Rototurret.

Callum - 3.5

A dangerous splash into Jinteki and one of the better Illicit ICE cards out of there. A great card in any damage based deck as it makes those cards so much more dangerous. Outside of damage decks I wouldn’t play this card.

Dave P - 2.5

The BP is problematic as this is an early game card for sure. As Callum suggests, probably best in a Jinteki deck but even then I'm not sure if 1 brain damage is that much of a threat to the runner. When Honour and Profit comes out, we may see more uses for this (Chairman Hiro I'm looking at you), but until then, I don't think it does enough for the Bad Pub to warrant inclusion in damage decks.

Panic Button

Dave H - 2

I thought that this card would be awesome for breaking R&D lock, but then realised it was for HQ only. It is good for getting the bits of the combo you want and then getting rid of extra agendas with Jackson Howard. So maybe a use in SE or other combo decks? Other than that I don’t really see the point of this card, generally Ash or Corporate Troubleshooter are going to be better upgrades to include.

Callum - 3

An interesting card, the effect can be powerful (or destroying depending on what you pull), and especially as it’s a resource changer on the fly depending on what you need. It can function as a counter to Account Siphon to deny the Runner taking credits whilst potentially allowing you to draw your econ cards to recover. It’s an interesting card so I’m going to give it a balanced 3/5.

Dave P - 2.5

Great for combo decks, being able to draw up and not have to discard until your turn ends is very strong. The problem is that it requires a run on HQ before it can be used and that is highly situational at the best of times. Don't think this will see much play, but a great concept and amazing flavour at the very least.

Shock!

Dave H - 3.5

There is a lot of hype about this card, and I am interested to see if it lives up to it. I appreciate that it is good for stopping the profitable Archives run using Desperado and other support cards and that it costs the runner something to trash it at no cost to the corp. However, what else does it do? Does it greatly help with a flatline strategy that much, I’m not convinced that it does? If the Jinteki ID wins the Chronos Protocol Tour, then I think this will be a great card in that type of deck, but I don’t know if there is enough deck space in Jinteki decks to do everything and therefore I think that in some cases this may get cut. It is a good card, but I don’t think it is great.

Callum - 4

Aggravates Datasucker Archive runs like nobody’s business but also really discourages R&D digging to no end. Not only do they take the damage, but if they want to keep running in without taking damage, they have to pay 2c just to get it out of the way. The 0c cost to ambush is great too.

Dave P - 3

Can't believe my rating is the lowest for a Jinteki card (being the huge Jinteki fanboy that I am). I like Shock. I can see the point of Shock, I just can't seem to find the deck space to include Shock, no matter how hard I try to hamfist it in. If the Jinteki Chronos Protocol ID gets printed, this will be a x3 auto include within that deck, but in PE, this doesn't seem to accomplish a great deal (maybe this does wonders in RP, can't say I've tested it in a RP deck). Cheesy archive kills aside, I'd much rather include more ETR ICE or Neural EMP's if I'm going for a flatline. Sorry Shock.

Tsurugi

Dave H - 3

This is an interesting card, with four sub-routines it is expensive to break and it can either end the run or do damage if it fires, this gives it a lot of versatility. However the main problem it faces is that it only has a strength of two and against Parasite decks losing a 6 cost ice is likely and painful. Because of this it gets an average rating from me, I think it is worth playing in Jinteki as a one or two of so that if you are facing Parasite you don’t end up regretting them, but against other opponents they will likely prove to be quite useful.

Callum - 2.5

As most have said, Parasite absolutely destroys this card for its 6c rez cost. Mimic also will just blow through it for 4 credits a pass without any other assistance. On the flipside, this can be a painful card to face-check early on, but I cannot see it replacing Neural Katana in anyway.

Dave P - 3

A solid, if expensive option in Jinteki flatline decks. 4c to break with Mimic is pretty good, but as already stated, hates Parasite with a burning passion. Still, great to have an ETR option, even if it's very expensive ETR ICE and it potentially assists a Jinteki flatline deck (that still probably isn't quite there yet...).

TGTBT

Dave H - 3

This card will be good in NBN decks that are looking to tag the runner and then flatline them or destroy them economically. If you are planning on playing a deck that uses one of these tactics then it will be the right card for your deck, and adds another way of tagging the runner in addition to Breaking News and Bernice Mai etc. If you are not running one of these decks, then I think there are better agendas for NBN such as Breaking News, Gila Hands Arcology etc

Callum - 3

A taxing card on the runner if they steal it, one extra tag when running can be everything, especially in the Corporation that packs Bernice Mai and Data Raven. It slows the runner down which is everything you can want from it. The only downside to it is NBN is pretty spoilt for choice for agenda points, so it can be a hard one to place in and competes directly with Breaking News but as a more defensive play. Bonus points if you Red Herrings it.

Dave P - 3

Another useful NBN agenda (who'd thunk it!) that sits nicely in a flatline deck. Presuming the runner doesn't go 'tag me,' it will also slow the runner down and enable some fast advance goodness. Oh how Weyland would love an agenda like this!

Sweeps Week

Dave H - 4.5

This is a great card, and it solves a lot of the NBN economy issues that decks were facing and using influence to resolve. Not only is it like an extra three Hedge Funds, but it is extra good against Andromeda, who is the most popular runner at the moment. If this balances out the runners in the field it is a good thing for the meta. There is nothing more to say about this card other than it provides a solid backbone to NBN decks and allows them to use their influence on other things more in keeping with the deck idea.

Callum - 5

This card is stone cold nuts. Let’s break it down. Against Andromeda turn one; it’s a net of 8c, which is massive. (Follow it up with Invasion of Privacy if you love being ballsy early on). In other cases it’s a Hedge Fund against a 5 hand Runner, or simply just 3 influence saved on Beanstalk Royalties for NBN. A great card.

Dave P - 4

Pretty much x3 auto include for almost any NBN deck I think. Frees up influence for bigger threats (no-one likes having to splash for economy cards) and better toys. Awesome against the most popular runner by far in any meta and still very cost effective in almost any other situation. Great card though I doubt we'll see it out of faction.

RSVP

Dave H - 3.5

This is a really interesting card, and it is nice to see that we are starting to see higher strength code gates so that Yog is less the go to card. I think this is strong because unless it is broken it stops the run dead as the next ice could be painful. It also works very well as a single piece of ice in some situations, such as with Red Herrings, and the soon to be released NAPD contract. I really like this card, and think it has some great applications.

Callum - 3.5

This card is stronger than it reads. It’s not only fantastic at denying credits in a run, potentially forcing the Runner to jack out, but it also helps in protecting vital assets or upgrades and potentially agendas via Red Herrings. Unlike Chum, the Runner can’t just ignore this card which can be pretty brutal if set up correctly.

Dave P - 3.5

This will get stronger as time goes on. Very excited for this in a Jinteki deck with Caprice, LAPD, Shinobi, Ash and Fetal AI. Yog is finally looking like more of a liability (especially when Inazuma comes to town) and breaking this any other way is highly unappealing. 3 cost for 4 str is very good and although it requires placement, it is far more flexible than Chum. Really looking forward to playing with this more when the cycle ends.

Curtain Wall

Dave H - 2.5

14 cost, that’s pretty crazy... but strength 10 if it’s the outermost ice and three sub-routine’s isn’t something to laugh at, it costs Corroder 11 to break and considering how efficient that thing is, that’s pretty great. However Emergency Shutdown, Femme Fatale and Inside Job are all things to be aware of. I think that the only time I’d play this card is in a deck running Oversight AI as normal rezzing is in most cases a bad idea. I’ve also seen some people complain about the flavour text, as it is confusing or breaks the fourth wall... That isn’t something that bothers me as I can tell it is flavour text / I’m not a massive idiot (+50 jerk points).

Callum - 3.5

A good Oversight AI card but a poor card to actually pay for. It’s a good play as an early defence card whilst you get your servers in order as it costs Corroder a mighty 11c to break if it’s on the outside of a server. Its biggest downside is not only its cost, but also that it competes in a faction loaded with barriers already.

Dave P - 3

As stated, wants to be Oversight AI'ed without question and if you can manage it, this makes a remote almost impenetrable. As Callum argues, 11c to break with Corroder is horrible and almost makes it cost effective to rez normally (if not for Emergency Shutdown) but the cost to benefit ratio of rezzing this with Oversight is huge. I'm expecting this one to suprise me occasionally.

Punitive Counterstrike

Dave H - 3.5

I like this card for several reasons, firstly it promotes playing 3 point agendas which are not commonly played any more, secondly it is another flatline option for Weyland and so there is more diversity in their decks. This card also has a lot of options in other factions, especially Jinteki decks, as a surprise kill shot. Generally it is an interesting card that can punish the runner for being too greedy, the obvious downside is that it requires the corp to have more money than the runner and this is difficult against some runners.

Callum - 4

Corps can now vomit out meat damage if they’re packing multiple copies of this card (and of course Jackson Howard). What’s great about this card is it requires no tags, has a decent cost and a high base trace. It can work very well in a Jinteki flatline deck, or just as an additional layer to a Weyland flatline deck. The biggest downside to this card is it encourages the Runner to always be packing a Plascrete just in case this card roots them out.

Dave P - 4

You do have to have guts to play 3pt agendas competitively. A bad start has huge consequences and can lead to brutal defeats. That being said, this card negates the risk of 3pt agendas significantly as they become a real risk for the runner to steal. If I steal a 3 pt agenda against Weyland now, you can bet I'm not going to try and steal any more that turn and I'm going to pray that I've got a Plascrete installed. Install, Advance, Advance suddenly becomes a real mind game against Weyland. If they score a Government Contracts, Sea Source - Scorched - Scorched becomes a real threat. Equally, if they score a Cleaners, both Punitive and Scorched become almost unavoidably lethal. Great in a deck with Cerebral Overwriter for that reason alone. Potentially very strong.

Veterans Program

Dave H - 2

I like 3 cost agendas with interesting abilities, is this another to add to the list? It is really specific, if you want to clear bad publicity then this is definitely a way of doing so, but most decks I see at the moment either don’t generate bad pub or don’t care that they have it. This is down the list of useful agenda abilities, but I think it may be useful at some point in the future in a specific deck type... maybe...

Callum - 3

A very straightforward agenda with no frills. Good as a BP removal whilst filling up those agenda slots, so it tends not to clutter a deck. A very obvious card to put into a deck if it needs it, and not to include if your deck doesn’t need it.

Dave P - 1.5

Far too situational to be of any real use for me. Would almost certainly rather play a Gila Hands or False Lead (assuming that you're already running Profiteering to get the value out of this). BP would have to become a real threat for this to be even vaguely worthwhile.